It’s not a big deal to some people, but it’s kind of a thing for me. When I published my little pattern back in April of 2014, I wasn’t even sure anyone would be interested. Umm. . .so, yeah, I was quickly proven wrong about that one. It had 150 downloads in the first few days. I cleaned up the format and some of the language in the instructions and released my updated version about a month and a half later. There were a few hiccups here and there, but it’s worked out pretty well in the end.

The most important thing publishing my pattern did was give me motivation to do it again. I haven’t published anything new as of yet, but I have several patterns just waiting patiently in my notebooks to be written up, tested, and released into the wild. Motivation is a hard thing for me, and seeing that other people I don’t know like my pattern enough to download and make themselves really is huge in my world. (So that took a slightly depressing turn. Totally unintended!)

Anyway, long story short (Too late!), I’m really, really proud of how far my pattern has come, and I’ve really, really appreciated all the support from people just by downloading it. It always makes my day better when I see that someone else has discovered it.

So, amongst the many geeky things I adore, I love Steampunk. I’ve always loved the Victorian age, and when I discovered Steampunk, it was magical. I’ve been in love ever since.

Beyond love of the aesthetic, as a crafter it meant a whole new world to explore and play with. Small jewelry projects to get Steampunk into everyday life, sewing projects to take over my living room with, and crochet projects to stitch up. At this stage of my blog’s infancy, I’m going to assume that you’re here from Ravelry and are already familiar with the picture up there. If not, these are my Steam Age Work Gauntlets.

It started because I’d wanted a fingerless glove that was lacy, but not as open as the ones I’d seen. This was what I (eventually) came up with. Somewhere along the line, I decided they were Steampunky enough to be called so and I did. It wasn’t until the end, just before I published the first draft of the pattern that I decided that it needed flavour text, something to sell it in a Victorian way. I thought back to Victorian era advertisements and how they tried to sensationalise whatever it was they were selling. I took that, ran with it, and ended up in a parallel world where steam reigned alongside Queen Victoria.

They’ve done well, in my estimation, nearing 500 (squee!) downloads since publication in April of 2014. It’s the first of many such patterns. There are already more in development and I have no plans to stop any time soon.

If you haven’t come here by way of the pattern, here’s a link to it below. A little shameless self-promoting always helps. ^,^

What time-traveling, airship-flying, Kraken-defeating, gadgeteering, engineering, adventuring Lady doesn’t need to keep her wrists and hands warm? Cold hands and wrists will never do when she’s that close to completing her latest invention. We proudly present the Steam Age Work Gauntlets. Perfect for any Lady tinkering and building high in her clock tower.

This is something important to me and quite a few others. I knew they probably would, and I knew it would be close. Today the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that it is unconstitutional for states to ban marriage equality. It’s not Federal, but it’s one step closer. It’s a precedent set. It will directly influence court rulings and legislation. It’s another step towards equality.

I live in Massachusetts, where marriage equality has existed for 11 years. I find it’s been a unique position to be in recently. I’ve watched as other states have long, drawn-out debates over long and short-term effects of allowing two consenting adults to enter into a civil contract. All they had to do was look Northeast. We could have just told them that the sky didn’t fall, the world didn’t end, and no one’s marrying their toaster. I’ve watched as states have tried (and in some cases, succeeded) to pass legislation that they claim will protect religious freedom, something already protected by the First Amendment. It’s been painful to see people denied basic rights because someone else disapproves of the way I was born.

We’re still fighting to be recognized as a part of the population that needs to be protected legally. And we will continue to fight our battles until we win the war.

I’ve been meaning to start a blog for a while now and am finally getting around to it. I don’t think it will be about any one thing in particular — my moods are too capricious for that. ^-^

So what may float through? My interests are many and varied, too varied for me to even think of all of them off the top of my head. Sewing, crochet, corsets, all things Victorian, mediaeval, steampunk, cyberpunk, 19th Century literature, MUSIC, video games, pen-and-paper rpg, and so many geeky things (so, so many). I was raised by my librarian grandmother; creativity was most definitely not stifled in my house.

So, I think that’s it for now. I’ll write again when something comes to mind!